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Tunnel he took the foremost place of danger, so also did he in all his other undertakings. For instance, when the Great Western Line was opened, he would ride upon the engine with the driver, and frequently drive it himself. On one occasion in the Box Tunnel, nearly two miles long, he was driving the engine at great speed, when he fancied he could see something on the rails between himself and the light; instantly he turned on full steam and dashed at the object, which turned out to be a contractor's truck broken loose from a ballast-train-it was broken into a thousand pieces. This was

only one among many of the narrow escapes he had of his life, and only one instance of the coolness and self-possession which invariably characterised him.

Many men, calm in the midst of exciting circumstances, are apt to be more than

usually discomfited when having to endure any protracted personal ailment; but not so Brunel. One day when performing a conjuring trick for the amusement of his children, he accidentally swallowed a half-sovereign, which dropped into his windpipe. For a fortnight he suffered only slightly; two eminent physicians were, however, called in at the expiration of that time, but they did not suggest any means for removing the coin. Brunel took the matter therefore into his own hands; he constructed an apparatus upon which he caused himself to be raised feet uppermost, so that the coin might have a chance of falling out. The experiment succeeded so far that he distinctly felt it slip towards the glottis, but convulsive coughing ensuing, the experiment had to be abandoned; then the physicians tried twice to extract the coin by the operation of tracheotomy, but were unsuccessful. Then he became seriously ill, and fearing fatal consequences, determined

to persevere in his own experiment. Again he was hoisted up head downwards, and his back struck, when to his great joy he was conscious of the coin leaving the right side of his chest; the opening in the windpipe, made by the physicians, enabled him to breathe while the coin came to his throat; and when, after a short fit of coughing, it dropped into his mouth, rattling against his upper front teeth, it was, as he often said afterwards when telling the story, the most exquisite moment of his life. For six weeks the half-sovereign had been in his windpipe.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the designer and civil engineer of the Great Eastern steamship built by Mr. Scott Russell. It was his last great work, and was to him what the Thames Tunnel had been to his father. He was indefatigable in his personal superintendence, and his health gave way consequent upon his over-zeal and anxiety in connection with the ineffectual attempts to launch the vessel, during which time he was exposed to most inclement weather. He lived, however, to see his work completed, and was on board the great, ship for the last time on the very day she was declared ready for sea. But while the vessel was moving down the river, Brunel was seized with paralysis, and died on the 15th September, 1859.

He was a grand man, of large ideas, and of heroism great enough to conquer every difficulty. It has been aptly said of him that "he was the very Napoleon of engineers, thinking more of glory than of profit, and of victory than of dividends.”

Noble Philanthropists-A Childhood of Promise-The Home at Lea Hurst-Miss Nightingale Visits the London HospitalsVolunteers as Nurse in the Kaiserwerth Institution-Visits Continental Hospitals-Establishes a Home for Sick Governesses-The Hospitals at Scutari-Defective Arrangements-Terrible Mortality-Gigantic Difficulties and how they were overcome-The "Sisters' Quarter "-Testimonies-Her Extraordinary Influence over the Sick-The Nightingale Fund-The Influence of her Example-New System of Nursing introducedBrave Volunteers-Perpetuity of her Work.

HE name of Florence Nightingale is not only revered in this country, but she herself is personally loved. It is enough to mention her name at any public assembly to ensure enthusiasm, for she has made herself the sister of every sympathising and loving heart. There are many who have endeared themselves to the whole nation, not only by their sympathetic kindliness, but also by the munificence of their gifts to alleviate suffering. As a munificent benefactor, there is no one whose name is more widely known and revered than that of the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. But Florence Nightingale stands in a different relationship to the people than any other heroine She gave HERSELF, with all her time, all her varied talents, all her broad human sympathies; herself, with her many graces and gentle nobleness, as a free gift to sick and wounded and suffering humanity.

of the age.

Miss Nightingale was born in Florence-" the city of flowers and the flower of cities," from whence she derives her Christian name-in the year 1820. As a little child she was strangely moved on behalf of the afflicted and suffering, but her emotion, instead of taking a sickly and sentimental turn, invariably went out in earnest and practical effort. If she could be of any real help-and she almost always could-then she set heartily to work at the labour of love before her, and ministered to the sick, or spoke words of comfort to the dying, or relieved the necessities of those who struggled against the horrors of poverty. Her father, a kindly-hearted man, allowed her ungrudgingly the means to follow out her